Alcorn’ stylized, two-tone paintings pique excitement and interest and invite repeated viewings. The artwork, plus the larger, clearer format for the text, will attract readers who would not have picked up the earlier edition. Each chapter begins with the graphic image of a flower springing from the gutter of an open book, superimposed over the silhouhette of a cityscape. The compelling artistry of this edition makes it a first-purchase consideration even for libraries that own the older title.

- The Horn Book, Inc. ©

Grade 6 Up. A handsomely illustrated edition of Meltzer's 1968 title. Meltzer and Hughes were friends and collaborators on book projects, so the portrait painted here is more personal than many of the other available offerings. Alcorn's stylized, two-toned prints pique excitement and interest and invite repeated viewings. The artwork, plus the larger, clearer format for the text, will attract readers who would not have picked up the earlier edition. Each chapter begins with the graphic image of a flower springing from the gutter of an open book, superimposed over the silhouette of a cityscape. Only slight, subtle changes have been made in the well-written text. The word "Negro" has been changed in some places to "African American" or "black." An author's note precedes the text. The bibliography has been updated and includes audio and video recordings. The compelling artistry of this edition makes it a first-purchase consideration even for libraries that own the older title.

-Marilyn Fairbanks, East Junior High School, Brockton, MA
-The School Library Journal ©

It is truly amazing to discover how much someone's life can be intertwined with history, politics, education, music, and poetry. There are a lot of levels to learning about the life of Langston Hughes. He was an activist, a poet, and a black man witnessing the effects of two World Wars and the Depression. Living with prejudice and poverty, he still found the power to create a language and a voice that touched so many. This is certainly a story worth reading. Detailed and thorough, this 200-page book will be challenging. Artistic and interpretive illustrations accompany the text.

-Sheree Van Vreede
Children's Literature

Gr. 6-12. Meltzer's 1968 biography of writer Langston Hughes is reissued here in a large, handsomely illustrated edition. The illustrator's note, with its talk of images permeated with "analytical and synthetic cubism," won't be accessible to most teens; but the black-and-white pictures with tints of sepia and blue are rhythmic and powerful. Like those he did for Meltzer's Lincoln in His Own Words (1993) and Frederick Douglass in His Own Words (1995), Alcorn's illustrations combine elements of folk art, social realism, and abstract imagery. In his fascinating author's note, Meltzer talks about researching and writing the life story of his friend, about reading Hughes' own work, not to get an enormous clutter of facts, but to find out "what he taught and felt and dreamed and feared and hoped."

-Hazel Rochman
Booklist

Listed in The New York Review of Books' READER'S CATALOG: The 40,000 Best Books In Print

Recipient of the 1998 annual New York Book Show award for best non-fiction book jacket of the year

Recipient of the 1998 Carter G. Woodson Award for the best secondary level book.
The Woodson Awards are presented annually to the most distinguished social science books
depicting ethnicity in the United States that are appropriate for young readers.

Illustrator's Note to Langston Hughes: An Illustrated Edition